A21 Road (England)

A21 Road (England)

For other roads with the same name see List of A21 roads.

The A21 is a major trunk road in Southern England and is one of the many connecting London and various commuter towns to the south coast. It provides a link to Hastings, East Sussex and parts of Kent. Half of the distance covered is over difficult terrain, and the hills and bends on the road result in slow-moving traffic, particularly during weekdays on the single carriageway stretches; and during the summer with holiday traffic. Because of this, people have described the A21 as "a joke" and businesspeople have been reported to “hate coming down the A21”. There have been many proposals to upgrade parts of the A21 in response to this.

Parts of the A21 follow the turnpike roads: one being the section from Sevenoaks to Tunbridge Wells, opened in 1710; other sections of the road were similarly dealt with later in the century. The road between the M25 and Hastings is designated a trunk road, and is maintained and managed by the Highways Agency.

The A21 is used for the 55 miles (89 km) Maydayrun to Hastings in which motorcyclists ride from South London to the Hastings seafront. It claims to be the largest non-organised event in the UK, attracting over 20,000 bikers.